Guitars Of The Week:
The Week of November, 26 2007 through December, 3 2007
The Week of December, 3 2007 through December, 10 2007

Atom Special
Mahogany
Seafoam Green

He awoke with a start, heart pounding; the blackened room illuminated only by a digital clock that read 4:32 AM. It had been this way every night since he sold his Atom Special—about a year now. He thought it would be okay, after all he still had a beautiful Hollow Atom finished in Fire to keep him company, but insistent longing for the other Atom sound—the sound of all-Mahogany “thunder”—had never gone away, never diminished. He should have known you can’t play just one Anderson.

Unable or unwilling to let this go on any longer, Chris came to a momentous moment of decision in the middle of the night. Driven by natural human desire, the need for a change had reached critical mass. He knew it was now time to turn his longing into physical form. He must have an Atom Special again. With this resolve complete, he fell into a sound sleep and had the second strangest dream of his life. (We are not at liberty to speak of the first.)

Yes, you know he dreamt of Atom Specials that night but there was a strange twist—in his mind he saw it painted in one of those old 50’s car colors that found their way onto Fender guitars of the early 60’s—but an Atom of any kind had never been done this way.

The power of thought is astonishing and as synchronicity would have it, Brian of Washington Music, after seeing the all-Black Atom Special of Guitar of the Week fame from October 8, 2006, was moved with inspiration some three-plus months before Chris had his prophetic dream and ordered a Seafoam Green, Atom Special for his store, Washington Music Center.

Chris awoke that morning and logged onto the Washington Music Center website to search out any Atom Special he could find. The new Seafoam Green, Anderson arrival had just been posted. He tells it this way, “Washington Music Center’s picture nailed me in about 2 milliseconds.” He knew this could not be mere coincidence, just random happenstance, and without hesitation called and asked them to send it…now please!

Who knew overnight shipping could take so darn long—24 hours is almost too much to bear when it is an Anderson you are waiting on. But time always comes no matter how long it seems in the moment.

Chris snapped open the latches on the form-fitting Atom case to reveal a Seafoam “Special” right before his very eyes. Better than he could have imagined—just what we all wanted. Chris put it best, “When it arrived in person I almost fainted when I opened the case, it reminded me of a brand new or restored ’57 Chevy."

Now in a state of Atom-assisted bliss, Chris sleeps better and more restfully these days, but still with visions of Anderson Atoms dancing in his head.